"Let no freedom be allowed to novelty, because it is not fitting that any addition should be made to antiquity. Let not the clear faith and belief of our forefathers be fouled by any muddy admixture."
-- Pope Sixtus III

Jobs growth slowed more than expected in August, setting the stage for the Federal Reserve to pump additional money into the sluggish economy next week and dealing a blow to President Obama as he seeks reelection in November.

Nonfarm payrolls increased only 96,000 last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. While the unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July, it was largely due to Americans giving up the search for work.

Watch the commie creep crow about that 0.2 "drop".

The report's weak
tenor was also underscored by revisions to June and July data to show
41,000 fewer jobs created than previously reported. The labor force participation rate,
or the percentage of Americans who either have a job or are looking for
one, fell to 63.5 percent -- the lowest since September 1981.

The lackluster report keeps the pressure on Obama ahead
of the November vote in which the health of the economy looms large.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected payrolls to
rise 125,000 last month, but some had pushed their forecasts higher
after upbeat data on Thursday.

The economy has
experienced three years of growth since the 2007-09 recession, but the
expansion has been grudging and the jobless rate has held above 8 percent for more than three years -- the longest stretch since the Great Depression.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke
last week said the labor market's stagnation was a "grave concern," a
comment that raised expectations for a further easing of monetary policy
as soon as the central bank's meeting on Wednesday and Thursday.

The jobless rate
peaked at 10 percent in October 2009, but progress reducing it stalled
this year, threatening Obama's bid for a second term. An online
Reuters/Ipsos poll on Thursday gave Republican Challenger Mitt Romney a 1-point edge on Obama, 45 percent to 44 percent.

The lack of headway putting Americans back to work has
also put the question of further monetary stimulus on the table at the
Fed. The central bank has held interest rates close to zero for nearly
four years and pumped about $2.3 trillion into the economy through two
bouts of bond buying.

The weak report
makes it more likely that the Fed will launch a third round of bond
purchases next week. Since the beginning of the year, job growth has
averaged 139,000 per month, compared with an average monthly gain of
153,000 in 2011.

Economists blame
fears of the so-called U.S. fiscal cliff -- the $500 billion or so in
expiring tax cuts and government spending reductions set to take hold at
the start of next year unless Congress acts -- and Europe's
long-running debt problems, for the slowdown in hiring.

Job creation last month was weak across the board, with
manufacturing payrolls down 15,000, the first decline since September
last year. Factory jobs were inflated in July because automobile
manufacturers kept plants running when they would normally shut them for
retooling, economists said.

There was little
improvement in construction employment, which added 1,000 jobs.
Temporary hiring fell 4,900, declining for the first time since March.

Utilities payrolls
saw a snap back, adding 8,800 after being depressed by the strike of
about 9,000 workers in July.

Government payrolls declined 7,000, falling for a sixth straight month.

Average hourly earnings fell one cent last month, highlighting the underlying weakness in the labor market.

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About Me

First of all, the word is SEX, not GENDER. If you are ever tempted to use the word GENDER, don't. The word is SEX! SEX! SEX! SEX! For example: "My sex is male." is correct.
"My gender is male." means nothing. Look it up.
What kind of sick neo-Puritan nonsense is this? Idiot left-fascists, get your blood-soaked paws off the English language. Hence I am choosing "male" under protest.